Grrrr...

Well, I knew I would have to replace the kitchen faucet one day. Just didn't want to do it yet! I went to turn off the water on Thursday and it would not turn off. Wonderful. Finally jiggled the handle around enough that it shut off. That lasted about a day. So, went to Lowe's with my sis to buy a new faucet. Now, why do they have those faucets on display at 5 feet and above. Sheesh! I got a neck ache just looking up at 'em for so long! I also had to buy a leaf blower and weed trimmer since what I have does not work. (THAT is another story.) Once I got home with my purchases my sister had to leave so I started putting together the lawn equipment with my dd's help. We got it done pretty quick. Soooo...she decided we should just put the faucet in, too. Okaaaay. I don't really want to do it but on the plus side, my dd wants to help. How can you say no to that? We got the old one out pretty quick only to realize the new faucet's pipes would not reach the connection under the sink. Now, it's off to Sears to buy extensions (I am sure there are better, more technically correct words to use here but, I am a scrapper not a plumber.) After that little glitch we got the new faucet on with no problems-no leaks. I think we are good to go.

An added bonus: once we turned the main water line back on the icemaker started working again. Yes, I did put in a new motor about 6 months ago and it worked fine for about 5 months. It just quit working for some unknown reason. So, now I am thinking what a productive day it has been, right?

Oh, not so! For now the dishwasher does not work. I may have ruined it by running it right after we put in the new faucet. At the time, I am not sure if the water supply to the dishwasher was on or off. Whatever the case, it will not fill with water. At least that is my original complaint. So, now to look at new dishwashers. Ok, I knew I needed one of those too. But, come on! Not today!

Remember, I said the original complaint was no water, right?

Well, this is what I find after church today.

The entire kitchen is covered in water. wth! Luckily, I had just bought a Mr. Clean mop at the local Targe' because prior to today I did not have a real mop. Just that sorry Swiffer mop piece of crap. Now, I tell you what! That Mr. Clean mop works awesome-it is just one giant Magic Eraser on a stick! My floors have never been so clean. (See, I am looking at the bright side here!) So, the problem is the dishwasher is full of water even though I have not turned it on. What to do, what to do? I shut off the water supply to it but it is still dribbling. Just lovely.

And, here are all of the dishes I had to wash by hand.

Ok, new dishwasher in 8 days. We are eating off of plastic 'til then. What a fiasco!

More of the May Swirlydoos kit

My daughter. Christmas  2009.

Everything is from this month's kit except the Prima flowers, 7G transparency, and some of the smaller flowers that we received in our goodie bag at Swirly Camp. I used the distressing technique that Robin taught us while we were at camp. Ink and distress the edges of your paper then you just hold the edges's of the paper under running water and get all the edges wet. Then, lay the paper on the counter and start scurnching and forming the edges how you want them. Use your heat embossing gun to dry the paper. Swipe ink around the folds and edges to get more definition and distressing.

This is my dd's Christmas 2009 choir concert. Everything is from this month's kit except the Prima leaves.

This is an old photo of my grandparents seeing us off on our first day of school sometime in the 1970's. My grandparents would drive their fifth wheel trailer around the country visiting with all of the family. It was always a great time when they came because we got homemade doughnuts! yum!

Sketch Challenge

Here's my interpretation of the sketch challenge for the June Swirlydoos kit. This is a photo of my grandmother back when she first married my grandfather. He was a pilot during the war and he took this photo of her with him on each mission that he flew during World War II. He placed her picture among all the dials and controls of the plane so she was with him.

I originally had this on a piece of the cs that came with the kit but realized how bulky it would be in a page protector so I ripped it up and placed it on this 12 x 12 acrylic piece that I bought at the CK convention. I spray painted the piece with white paint around the edges. The only other items not from the kit are the blue Prima rosebuds and BoBunny rub on. I used my Fiskars apron lace punch to create the punched edge around the big circle.

Another Challenge

I completed another challenge for Swirlydoos. This one is hosted by Tina and continues until the end of the month. Her challenge is to use at least six layers of distressed paper to create your layout. An added twist is to make your own rose for the layout. So I followed her rose tutorial to make the blue rose that I added to this page. All the papers are Webster's from the April Swirlydoos kit. The picture is of my daughter in the third grade. Now she is finishing her last week as a middle schooler. Then I will have two high school children! Wow!

The smaller yellow flowers were made by gluing and scrunching layers of Prima hydrangeas together.

Round Robin #4

It's Friday! Time to post my lift for Round #4 of the Round Robin Challenge.

I used some papers by Kaiser to put this one together. Everything is from Swirlydoos kits except the small blue Primas and the Fancy Pants rub on. The Kaiser papers were from the clock technique add-on kit.

This picture was taken around 1891. It is my great-great-great-grandfather Joshua Martin Morris's brother James Henry Morris (age 57) and his second wife Mary Molly (Miser) Morris (age 40) and children: back row; Oscar Noland, age 16; Everett Allan 14; front row: Senie, Garrett G., Malcolm and Artie.

 Mary Molly Miser was his second wife. His first wife was Mary's sister Hannah Miser. [the baby Garrett was born July 1891, Everett would have been 15 in Jan. 1892, so maybe this is a Christmas family picture]. Genealogy provided by my Mom.

Go here to check out the challenge and the layout that I "lifted."